


Birthdays

by shinysylver



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Armitage Hux Has Issues, Birthday, Birthday Presents, Canon Universe, Developing Relationship, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Late Night Conversations, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:54:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21764836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinysylver/pseuds/shinysylver
Summary: Hux had done his best to forget his birthday entirely. Then Ren went and didthis.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren
Comments: 15
Kudos: 168





	Birthdays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Heresetrash](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Heresetrash/gifts).



> This is for the wonderful Heresetrash. Happy Birthday!! I am so lucky to have met you and become friends with you through this fandom and I really wanted to write you a little fluffy fic (well as fluffy as I can manage) to hopefully brighten your day. I look forward to the future when we meet in Ireland. ;)
> 
> Thanks to HuxandtheHound and Camshaft22 for reading over this for me.

Hux stood frozen in place, staring at the cup of tea sitting on the table in his quarters. He hadn't been in his room for nearly sixteen hours, working a double shift, and that cup of tea hadn't been there when he left. His hand automatically dropped to his blaster, wary of an intruder, but there was nowhere in the small room for anyone to hide. 

The tea was still steaming, the self-warming cup making it impossible to know when it had been dropped off. He picked it up and sniffed it suspiciously, wondering if it was part of a rather bold assassination attempt, but all he could smell was the strong mint of his favorite tea. 

It didn't seem tampered with, but the intense flavors of Tarine tea could easily hide poison. 

He cautiously returned the cup to the table and noticed a book that he'd missed while distracted by the tea. He tentatively picked it up, his fingers caressing the cracked leather cover. He carefully opened it, mindful of the warped binding, and flipped to the title page. 

_Korriban: A History_.

Hux gasped. The book was truly ancient. He flipped another page and found a handwritten note in fresh, dark black ink. 

_In celebration of your birthday. - Kylo._

Hux set the book down and picked up the tea with shaking hands, taking a long fortifying sip. After all, if Ren wanted to kill him he didn’t need to resort to poison. It was good, brewed extra bitter just the way he liked it even though Ren had never bothered to make him a cup before.

He frowned down at the book. How did Ren even know when his birthday was? Hux had never celebrated it. No one he’d known had observed their birthdays; the only celebrations he remembered growing up were for Empire Day. Even long past the fall they’d honored the formation of the Empire, keeping the history alive for the future.

But his birthday… that had always been a particularly unpleasant day. His father had never hidden his disappointment in Hux, but he'd always driven the lesson home on his birthday, making it clear that he'd rather Hux not have been born at all. Since his father’s death he’d done his best to forget his birthday entirely.

Then Ren went and did this.

He was still sitting at the table an hour later, staring at the book, when the soft sound of the door opening signaled Ren’s arrival. 

“You’re still up?” Ren asked.

Hux pointed at the book and the empty tea cup. “What’s the meaning of this?”

Ren furrowed his brow. “I found that book in Snoke’s collection and thought you’d like it. You've been reading Sith history recently.”

“Of course I like it,” Hux snapped. “That’s not the point. How did you even know it’s my birthday?”

“It’s in your personnel file,” Ren answered. “Are you actually mad at me for getting you a birthday present?”

When Ren put it that way it was ridiculous. “I thought I was being poisoned.”

“My tea isn’t that bad.” 

Hux snorted at the indignation in Ren’s voice. “Don’t worry the tea was annoyingly perfect.” He hesitated, but Ren had done a nice thing for him and he wanted to encourage that sort of behavior. He swallowed his instinctive defensiveness and forced out an only slightly stilted, “Thank you for the gift.”

It was only later, lying next to Ren in the dark where no one could see him, that he managed to share the truth with Ren. “No one’s ever gotten me a present before. My father tended to punish me for my birth.”

He held his breath, regretting the words as soon as he said them and hoping that Ren was asleep, but he wasn't that lucky. Ren never seemed to actually sleep. 

Ren found Hux's hand under the blanket and intertwined their fingers. “My birthday was always an elaborate production. More of a political gathering than a child's party. Everyone gave me expensive gifts to curry favor with my mother, when all I really wanted was a model X-Wing. I hated it."

Apparently Ren found it easier to share in the dark too. This was the first time he'd ever talked about his childhood with Hux. "Did you ever get the X-Wing?"

"No," Ren answered. "I got sent away to train with Skywalker and had to renounce all my unnecessary possessions."

Hux squeezed Ren's hand. "How do you feel about model Tie fighters? I don't think I can get you a model X-Wing. It goes against everything I believe in."

A surprised bark of laughter shook the bed. "I don't need models anymore. I have the real thing."

"That's a good point," Hux said. "I'll have to come up with something else."

"You don't have to."

"I want to," Hux said, quietly. And he did want to. Ren had given him a simple, yet thoughtful gift and he found himself wanting to return the favor on Ren's birthday. "But I won't be damaging any ancient texts by scrawling my name in them." 

Ren rolled over, pinning Hux underneath him. "You're an asshole."

Hux pulled Ren down into a kiss. "I know."

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Comments and kudos are much appreciated.
> 
> You can find my social media information in my profile. :D


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